State v. Routhier

669 P.2d 68, 137 Ariz. 90, 1983 Ariz. LEXIS 229
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 6, 1983
Docket5390
StatusPublished
Cited by68 cases

This text of 669 P.2d 68 (State v. Routhier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Routhier, 669 P.2d 68, 137 Ariz. 90, 1983 Ariz. LEXIS 229 (Ark. 1983).

Opinion

HOLOHAN, Chief Justice.

A jury found appellant, Dennis Earl Rou-thier, guilty of first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. He was sentenced to death on the first degree murder charge and to 21 years on the charge of attempted first degree murder. Appellant appeals these convictions and sentences. We have jurisdiction of this case pursuant to Arizona Const, art. 6 § 5 and A.R.S. § 13-4031.

*93 The appellant raises seven issues on appeal but we believe the answers to the following questions will be dispositive of the appeal:

1. Whether the scope of the prosecutor’s cross-examination of the appellant violated his fifth and fourteenth amendment rights.
2. Whether photographs of the deceased and a bloody shirt were erroneously admitted into evidence.
3. Whether the trial court erred in not granting appellant’s motion for acquittal on the count of attempted murder.

The following facts are necessary for a resolution of the issues presented.

On the morning of September 20, 1980, Lawrence Barrick and his son, Robert, stopped the vehicle in which they were travelling to aid a man who had flagged them down. Dennis Earl Routhier, appellant, told the Barricks he was having trouble with his truck. The Barricks drove the appellant to his truck, which was parked some distance off the main road. When the three men arrived at the truck, a ’56 Chevy, the appellant stated he would make one more attempt to start it. The truck started unaided. The three men then sat on the tailgate of the Barricks’ truck and drank some beer.

After finishing their beer, the Barricks drove to a friend’s house. The appellant was invited to follow them in his own truck, and he did. The Barricks’ friend was not at home so they decided to drive out to Roosevelt irrigation canal and take a swim. The appellant followed the Barricks to the canal.

Robert Barrick jumped into the canal and swam for five to ten minutes. As Robert began to climb out of the canal, the appellant approached him and hit him in the head with a hammer. Robert was cut and knocked unconscious for a few seconds. He testified that appellant asked him if he had any money, to which Robert replied “No.” Appellant then instructed Robert to get out of the canal or his father would be harmed. At this point Robert noticed that his father was slumped over on the ground by his truck. Robert climbed the opposite bank of the canal and ran to the nearby freeway to summon help.

Meanwhile, the appellant sped away in his truck. When the police arrived at the scene, they found Lawrence Barrick beaten and bleeding profusely from the head and neck. He died soon afterwards. Medical testimony revealed that he died of multiple wounds inflicted by a blunt instrument.

Later that afternoon, police apprehended the appellant after a high speed chase on the freeway. The chase terminated when the appellant’s truck swerved into a semi-truck and rolled off the freeway. The appellant was taken into custody and admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment of head and leg injuries.

Appellant’s testimony at trial was that he killed Lawrence Barrick in self-defense. He claimed that Barrick attacked him without reason and appellant only used his hammer when Barrick tried to gouge his eye out. Additional facts pertinent to questions raised by the appellant will be discussed as necessary.

HOSPITAL STATEMENTS

On the morning of September 21, 1980, Detective Barber of the Phoenix Police Department visited the appellant at Good Samaritan Hospital. The appellant was informed of his rights to silence and to the services of an attorney. He stated that he understood his rights and was willing to submit to questioning. Appellant signed a waiver of rights card, and the interrogation began. During the interrogation the appellant indicated that he remembered meeting an old man and his son, having a disagreement with the old man and hitting both individuals with his fists. When asked by Detective Barber whether he had used a hammer, the appellant stated that he may have been mad enough to use one, but he did not believe that he had. Detective Barber then asked the appellant to elaborate on specific details, but the appellant stated *94 that he wanted to speak with an attorney. At that point, the questioning ceased.

Three days after the first interview at Good Samaritan Hospital, before counsel had been provided him, the appellant was interrogated a second time by a Detective Locksa. The interrogation was conducted at the detention ward of Maricopa County Hospital, where the appellant had been transferred from Good Samaritan Hospital. Detective Locksa had been advised by Detective Barber of the appellant’s previous request for counsel. The appellant was again informed of his rights to silence and legal representation. Detective Locksa further told the appellant that he did not want to discuss the Barrick homicide but that he wanted to discuss two unrelated homicide cases. The appellant stated that he was willing to talk to the detective. In response to Detective Locksa’s questions regarding these unrelated homicides, the appellant implicated himself in the Barrick homicide. His precise words were, “I have never done anything like this before. The only reason I did what I did is that I was totally shitfaced, I probably would not have even hit the old man if it hadn’t been for his big mouth.”

The appellant was charged by indictment with having committed first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. Subsequently, pursuant to a plea agreement, the appellant appeared before the superior court to enter a no contest plea. At the hearing on the no contest plea a set of police reports and the medical examiner’s report were admitted into evidence to establish a factual basis for the plea.

Before the plea was accepted by the superior court, the appellant asked to withdraw the plea. The request was granted, and the case was transferred to another superior court judge.

Prior to trial, the appellant moved to suppress all of his hospital statements 1 on the grounds that they were involuntary due to appellant’s physical condition at the time of interview. No mention was made of the appellant’s request for counsel in his motion to suppress or at the voluntariness hearing. Both Detectives Barber and Locksa testified at the voluntariness hearing and neither one mentioned the appellant’s request for counsel. The appellant’s motion to suppress his statements was denied. The trial court found that the statements were voluntarily made after the appellant had waived his constitutional rights.

At trial, when the appellant was being cross-examined, the fact of his request for counsel was brought out by the prosecution. At that point defense counsel made a motion to preclude any questioning of the appellant regarding statements made by him during the second interview on the grounds of inadequate showing of Miranda 2 compliance.

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Bluebook (online)
669 P.2d 68, 137 Ariz. 90, 1983 Ariz. LEXIS 229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-routhier-ariz-1983.